Sweet Tuesdays – Leenie Brown

Music Monday: To Love Again (Joe Yamada)

PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY JOE YAMADA MUSIC ON FEBRUARY 7, 2020

I picked this pretty piano piece from my Music to Write by playlist today because it has the right tone and title to match with the book I have releasing tomorrow. In Her Convenient Forever, Felicity Love thinks she has lost her chance for love, and Boyd Hedrington thinks he cannot love again. While the story has some very somber notes, it also has moments of hope, joy, and rediscovery much like this song, To Love Again, does.

The excerpt from chapter 3 below hits one of those somber, sad notes in the story.

“Where shall we sit?” Mr. Hedrington asked Matthias, who looked at Felicity.

“I am going to sit on the sofa near the hearth,” she said.

Matthias smiled and nodded his head.

“Will three fit?” Mr. Hedrington said with a laugh.

“I should hope so,” Mr. Love said with a chuckle of his own. “My Felicity has always charmed the young gentlemen, but I was not aware that her abilities extended to such young gentlemen.”

He was teasing, and three months ago, Felicity would have rolled her eyes and giggled. However, at present, her cheeks flamed as she forced a small laugh.

“I am pleased to see Matthias wishing to sit with you,” Mr. Hedrington said softly as they sat down. “He has not found it easy to accept new acquaintances. I have had several neighbours call on us since our arrival, and aside from Mrs. Jones, he has not warmed to any of them.”

“Felicity is hard not to like,” Mr. Love said with a smile.

Again, while Felicity knew her father was praising her, she blushed and could not accept it. She had not been easy to like. In fact, she had been dreadfully difficult and even impossible to like for some people. One only needed to ask her sister, Grace, to discover the truth of it. There were many sins she had contemplated while looking at the stars when sleep would not come.

“Miss Love said you live a distance from here,” Mr. Hedrington said.

“Ah, yes, a little further than a day’s drive to the northeast into Kent,” Mr. Love said. “But we come here nearly every summer. There have been a few summers where we have not been able to make the journey due to other obligations, and we have missed our time here.”

“Is it always this cottage at which you stay?”

Mr. Love nodded. “We enjoyed it so much on our first trip that we have never considered any other place. Of course, our first time to the ocean was after our marriage. Mrs. Love had never seen the sea, and I could not resist being the first to show it to her.”

Felicity loved the way her father’s eyes grew soft when he looked at her mother and spoke of their wedding and first trip to this cottage. How many times had she asked him to tell her that story when she was young? It was likely why she had fallen so deeply in love with the idea of marriage. What girl would not wish to be so treasured as her father’s look said her mother was? Of course, as it turned out, Felicity had not gone about trying to find such a situation for herself in the right way, and now, she would never have someone to look at her in such a fashion.

“If you will excuse me,” she said before rising quickly and leaving the room, for she knew that those tears which had threatened before would not be refused this time.

[from Her Convenient Forever]

Find *Her Convenient Forever* in your Kindle store here.

*The link in the first paragraph is to the song on Spotify. This is not an affiliate link. It is just my way of attempting to help out the artists whose music I share.

Music Monday: Innocent Heart (Brian Crain)

PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY BRIAN CRAIN ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2016.

I decided to revisit a favorite artist for this week’s song selection. If you are a Spotify listener as I am, you can find this song there at this link.

Today, I am pairing this song with a story where I would say the heroine has a very innocent heart. It is a heart that is not looking in the right place for its forever love, but the guy sitting next to her and attempting to help her catch the attention of her crush and his brother will make certain by the end of the story that her heart finds its true home.

The story I am talking about is His Beautiful Bea, which is the first book in my Touches of Austen series, and the innocent heart belongs to Beatrice Tierney.

Important note: This book is currently on sale for $0.99 but ONLY until today. At some point tomorrow, that price will be going up!

If you have been reading my Sweet Tuesday stories, I think you will recognize a name or two in this chapter.

His Beautiful Bea, Chapter 2

“You are a fair sight to see,” Max said later that afternoon as he plopped down next to his sister on a couch in Stratsbury’s drawing room. He flicked her book. “You’ve not finished it yet?” he queried. “I half expected you to be ready to peruse the library before we leave today, but you have more than half the book left to read.”

Bea smiled at her brother. He was not a great reader. He preferred being out of doors and doing things to sitting and reading.

“I promise I shall not disappoint you,” she replied. “I have completed my book of poetry and would like to replace it. Sir Herbert has already promised me that I might. Will you help me choose a new book?”

Max shook his head and laughed. “Not likely. My knowledge of poetry is limited.” He stretched out his arms, resting them on the back of the sofa with one wrapped around her shoulders. “I know a few poets and poems, but not a vast array. You would be better to ask Everett or even Graeme. They would know more.”

“Then if I require assistance, my dear brother, I will ask one of them and not you.”

Music Monday: Siúil a Rúin (Ella Roberts)

PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY ELLA ROBERTS ON FEBRUARY 25, 2020.

“Siúil a Rún” is a traditional Irish song, sung from the point of view of a woman lamenting a lover who has embarked on a military career, and indicating her willingness to support him. The song has English language verses and an Irish language chorus, a style known as macaronic. (source: Wikipedia)

The same Wikipedia article later said that some say the lover in this song was given a choice to either choose a military career or permanent exile, and he chose exile.

No matter what the reason, this song is about separated lovers and is a beautiful (though sad) piece of music.

I have chosen to pair this song with a story that might be very familiar to you if you read my Sweet Tuesday stories or read this story as a Thursday’s Three Hundred when I first began doing those stories.

In “Hope at Dawn”, the hero (Nicholas) and heroine (Kathleen) have been separated for a year. His suit was refused by her father and brother, and she was taken to Ireland, along with the match her father hoped she would settle on, while the hero remained behind in England.

I would imagine Kathleen’s heart cry during her separation from Nicholas sounded something like this song — beautiful and sad. However, Kathleen and Nicholas’s story does not remain sad — I write happily ever afters, you know. 😉

Hope at Dawn, Ch. 1

Hope at Dawn is one of four novelettes included in my *First Blooms and Second Chances* anthology.

As the sun slipped below the horizon, leaving its fiery glow resting upon the gently rolling black waters, Nicholas Sidemore spotted the boat for which he had been waiting, bobbing just on the edge of the sea ─ where the water dropped away and could be seen no longer. His heart raced at the sight of her, and he swallowed the fear that rose inside him as the vessel drew closer. It would not be long now ─ a few hours or perhaps a day ─ until he knew his fate.

Using the glow of his lantern to light the way, he carefully picked his way around the rocks lining the shore. Choosing a large one with a smooth top, he sat down. From this vantage point, he could easily see the entrance to the harbour and past it to the sea beyond.

Music Monday: Dulce Mirada (Michael Ortega)

PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY MICHAEL ORTEGA ON NOVEMBER 3, 2019

When I heard this song on a day when I was working on finding music to pair with stories, I knew I wanted to share it, and when I turned my mind to what story might pair well with this song, His Beautiful Bea came to mind first. I just think that the song has the same sort of feel that His Beautiful Bea has. It’s soft and lovely with a touch of sadness that is lifted up and turned into something far better than what was lost by true love. Hopefully, that explanation makes sense to more people than just me. LOL

Just a note before you read: His Beautiful Bea is a novella of 8 chapters. I am sharing chapter 6. Those facts should let you know that there may be some spoilers in here for those who have not read this story already. 😉

His Beautiful Bea, Chapter 6

For two long and tiresome days, Beatrice was confined to either a sofa in the sitting room at Heathcote or a bench in the garden. Her mother was not known to coddle her children, but she was not the sort who foolishly flouted precautions, especially when it came to Beatrice. Having nearly lost her daughter to a fever when Bea was just eleven, Mrs. Tierney stuck firmly to all prescribed restrictions, and a turned ankle that showed signs of bruising required, according to Bea’s mother, a full two days of rest with little walking. Mrs. Tierney would not confine Bea to her bed, but she would not have her hobbling about ─ not even with a cane. Bea was to rest with her foot on a pillow.

It was, therefore, a happy morning on the third day when Bea could rise from bed and take a walk around the garden — a short walk around the garden, one that would not aggravate her injury. Her mother’s words and expression when giving her directives had been stern, and Bea knew better than to disobey.

So it was that Bea was in the garden near the hedge when her brother, Graeme, and Shelton returned from their ride.

“Miss Tierney!” Shelton doffed his hat and greeted her from where he sat on his horse. “I missed our rematch. I am confident I could have been victorious today.”

Music Monday: Remembering You (Robin Spielberg)

PUBLISHED TO YOUTUBE BY MEOWMEOWBB ON JUNE 25, 2011.

This is one of the songs on my Music to Write By playlist. It’s really pretty and has a wistful romantic air to it. It’s definitely just the right sort of music to get the writing mind working. I have decided to pair it today with this scene from His Darling Friend because Roger shares a sweet little remembrance about Victoria and a frog. Do you remember it from when it was the Sweet Tuesday story last year?

AN EXCERPT FROM His Darling Friend (Chapter 7):

“We will start from the top of the table, of course, with Amelia.” Mrs. Abernathy waited for her daughter to join her where she stood near the door to the drawing room in which all the houseguests were gathered to wait for dinner.

“Shall we see who it is who will dine with you?”

Miss Abernathy said an eager yes as her mother shook a bowl containing several small pieces of paper. She swirled her hand inside the bowl and pulled out a name. “Oh! How delightful! Mr. Carlyle.”

The gentleman straightened his jacket, crossed the room, and offered his arm to Miss Abernathy, whose waited only until her daughter and Mr. Carlyle had left the room before looking around and calling Victoria forward.

Of all the inane ideas! Roger crossed his arms and leaned against the wall near the window. The woman was obviously assigning gentleman dinner partners at random, but she was proceeding through the ladies based on status. Victoria was well-dowered. It was not something she published nor was it a fact she kept secret. He glowered at two gentlemen who had started whispering when Victoria’s name was called. He did not like it. His friend did not need any fortune hunters scampering after her.

“Mr. Clayton,” Mrs. Abernathy said.

Roger blew out a breath. It could be worse. She could have been stuck with Carlyle or one of those whispering gents.

Lady after lady was summoned forward and gentleman after gentleman was assigned as a partner.

“Is this not the best?” Grace said as she took Roger’s arm. “It is such a surprise! I do like surprises.”

“I do not,” Roger replied.

Grace giggled. “I will admit I had hoped I would be assigned someone different.”

“I hear Ainsley has a chit waiting for him at home,” Roger whispered.

Grace’s smile slid into a frown. “Does he indeed?”

“I have not asked him, of course, but that is what I have heard. We should proceed with caution.”

She tipped her head. “What do you mean we?”